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APRIL 25th UPDATE

NEW CONTENT

Dawn of War III Pre-Order Skins

Five new, Warhammer 40k themed skin sets added to the game (one for each faction). These skin sets are exclusive to those who have pre-ordered Dawn of War III and will not be available in the in-game store or by any other means.


BALANCE CHANGES

A big thank you goes out to the community balance team for once again supplying the curated balance changes described below. Of course, these changes wouldn't be possible without the feedback and dedication of the community so once again, we thank you for your continued support and commitment to this game.

SOVIETS

Maxims

We feel that the dominant Soviet “Maxim-spam” strategy is over performing with the benefits of this strategy heavily outweighing the risks.

To address this issue we will be increasing the arc of the Maxim MG while severely reducing its suppression performance to compensate. We have also removed sprint (which allows MGs to “get away”) and we are increasing the setup time to other MG levels. We are also increasing the reinforcement cost of the original crew to match the reinforcement cost of Conscripts.

To make up for a low base-value suppression (to avoid early-game spam) we've also give the Maxim, we are giving the unit strong multipliers vs light-cover and suppressed squads to allow the Maxim to scale well into the late-game.

The new Vet 1 ability (Sustained Fire) will help the Maxim perform more reliably vs blobs. An improved burst time will allow the Maxim to deal increased suppression vs persistent targets. Reduced cooldown allows the Maxim to switch targets more easily. Finally, the forced reload at the start of the ability can be used to guarantee that the Maxim will not chew through its ammunition belt during a crucial fight.

Overall, the changes are the following:

Arc of fire increased from 60 degrees to 90 degrees (other MGs have 90-120 degrees)
Setup time from 2 to 3 (other MGs have 3)
Burst duration from 2.25 to 4.5
Damage reduced from 4 to 3 (the DPS of the Maxim remains the same)
Tracking speed from 35 to 28
Reinforcement cost from 15 to 20
Sprint removed from Vet1
Sustained fire ability added at Vet1
Suppression changes:

Suppression reduced from 0.00015909 to 0.00006
Suppression versus light cover from 0.5 to 0.75
Suppression versus heavy cover from 0.1 to 0.2
Suppression vs suppressed targets increased from 0.5 to 0.65
Nearby suppression modifier from 0.8 to 1.25
Nearby suppression radius increased from 10 to 13
Mobility/Survivability changes:

Maxim squad formation changed
Rotation changed from 120 to 225
Acceleration/Deceleration increased to infinite
Removed cover-traversal penalties from the Maxim
Sustained fire:

Increases burst length duration by x2
Reduces reload time by 0.5 (multiplicative)
Reduces cooldown time by 0.5 (multiplicative)
Forces a reload at the beginning of the ability
Cancels (with no refund) if the Maxim moves
30 second duration
50 seconds cooldown
Costs 20 munitions

Penal Battalions - Satchel Ability

To prevent unintended behavior, as well as to assist with targeting the ability, we are splitting the functionality of the Penal Satchel ability into two separate abilities. Note that both abilities launch precisely the same projectile with respect to damage and critical effects. The two abilities only behave differently with respect to targeting.

(Manual version)

This ability targets a location on the ground.
If the satchel collides with a vehicle, the satchel will stick to the vehicle
(Targeted version)

This ability can only be targeted on enemy vehicles
If the vehicle remains within range while the ability is casting, the satchel will home-in on the enemy vehicle

M4C Shermans

To prevent players from over-relying on sherman call-ins and skipping teching, we are increasing the dispatch time between successive Shermans. Moreover, longer recharge time between shermans will prevent players from spamming Shemans, when the Command Point requirements becomes met.

Note that, at the same time, we are not affecting the cost-efficiency of the Shermans. Thus, the doctrine will still reward the players with a highly-efficient USF-made tank. At the same time, the longer recharge time will force the Soviet player to want to field Shermans side-by-side with Soviet-made tanks. We believe this will also add a touch of authenticity to the doctrine.

To encourage strategic diversity, we are reducing the cooldown of the Sherman dispatch ability once T4 has been reached in order to help ensure the doctrine can continue to be useful in multiple strategies.

Increased recharge time between shermans to from 36 seconds to 2:30 minutes
Building T4 decreases recharge time from 2:30 minutes to 1:15 seconds

USF

M10

We find that the M10, which is a highly cost-efficient tank hunter is overperforming with respect to how it deals with infantry due to its potency to crush squads. Therefore, we are taking steps to remedy this, without, however, affecting M10’s mobility.

Chassis rotation rate reduced from 38 to 32
Turret rotation rate increased from 30 to 36 to compensate

OKW

Panzerfausts (Volksgrenadiers only)

We found that the early arrival of OKW panzerfaust combined with the complete lack of scaling potential for light vehicles made it prohibitive for players to integrate light vehicle strategies in their games. Moreover, we find that the cost-efficiency improvements on the Panzerfaust were too dramatic.

Cost increased from 25MU to 30MU
Requires a truck to be be set-up (as opposed to be called-in) to be available

Command Panther

We feel the Mark Target ability is overperforming relative to its cost. This is primarily due to the +50% damage bonus that the ability bestows on the target. Our changes to the Mark Target ability aim to make it less efficient at “bursting-down” enemy vehicles, while still allowing the ability to perform better in a sustained-fire role. This allows the ability to remain relevant, while offering options for counter-play to the targeted player.

To prevent the vehicle from being too dominant in teamgames, we are making Command Panther mutually exclusive with the King Tiger. Moreover, we are changing the way the Command Panther’s aura affects teammates. We are also increasing the Command Point requirements of the Command Panther to bring its arrival closer in line with its value.

Increase Command Point requirements from 10 to 11

Main gun AoE damage decreased from 1/0.35/0.05 to 1/0.15/0.05
Mark target bonuses changed from 50% damage to 25% damage/15% accuracy
Mark target now also tracks the target in the fog of war for the duration of the ability
Command Panther is now mutually-exclusive with the King Tiger (similar to JT/KT restrictions)

Aura

+range, +sight, +speed bonuses removed from infantry-affecting bonus of the aura (Vet5 aura still awards +accuracy/+reload to infantry)
+sight/+range parts of vehicle-affecting aura no longer affect teammates
Vet 5 infantry-affecting aura no longer affects teammates

UKF

Tank Commander Upgrade

We find that the ability is over performing relative to its cost.

Removed veterancy gain bonuses from the upgrade
Removed stealth detection bonuses from the upgrade
(The upgrade now only awards accuracy/sight bonuses, which is more than OK for the price)

Emergency War Speed

We find that the ability is over performing relative to its cost. We are also removing the ability of players to “tune up” the tanks of their teammates with the ability.

Speed modifier reduced from +35% to +15%
Acceleration modifier reduced from +60% to +30%
It is no longer possible to “tune-up” allied tanks with Emergency War Speed

AEC Treadshot

To make the ability fire more reliably (i.e., without bugs), we are changing the nature of the ability such that the AEC has to be stationary to fire it. At the same time, we are increasing the responsiveness of the ability to give UKF players that build and preserve their AECs with a reliable snare ability.

Unit has to be stationary to fire Treadshot
Ready aim time reduced from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds (improves responsiveness)
Reload time between shots reduced from 2.5 seconds to 2 seconds
(the ability will only be refunded if no shots were fired before moving)

Cromwell

We have found find that the Cromwell's ability crush models is far too potent. To help reduce this potency we are reducing the unit's rotation rate. However, to allow the Cromwell to retain the feel a higher-than-average mobility, we are compensating with an increased turret rotation rate.

Secondary to these changes, we are adjusting several other attributes of the Cromwell to bring its cost-efficiency in line with other tanks of its callibre.

Finally, to partly offset a weak British early game, we are giving Cromwells default access to smoke shells.

Fuel cost increased from 110FU to 120FU
Rotation rate from 38 to 32 (equivalent to Panzer4)
Turret traverse rate from 40 to 47.5 (to counteract chassis rotation reduction)
Moving accuracy multiplier decreased from 0.75 to 0.5
Smoke shell available at Vet0, but with a 15 second cooldown
Veterancy1 reverts smoke shell cooldown to 10 seconds
Increase horizontal scatter from 6 to 7.5
Distance scatter max from 6.2 to 6.4
Distance scatter obj min from 5 to 10
Distance scatter offset from 0.3 to 0.25

Comet

The Comet is receiving changes that are similar in-spirit with the ones already described for the Cromwell. In addition to these changes, we are also reducing the range of the main gun of the Comet to 45 to match other anti-infantry-capable tanks (e.g., Pershing, Tiger). We believe that Comet’s higher-than-average armour and mobility will still allow it to overcome the reduced range. At the same time, this will make standoffs with the more-specialist Panther more balanced.

Main gun range from 50 to 45
Population cost increased from 16 to 18
Reduce rotation rate from 36 to 32 to prevent crush (same as Panzer4 levels)
Turret traverse rate from 40 to 45 (to compensate for chasis rotation changes)
Moving accuracy from 0.75 to 0.5
Rear armour reduced from 130 to 110
Fixed an issue where the grenade throw ability would sometimes not work
Fixed an issue where it was possible to use the grenade ability while moving
Increase horizontal scatter from 6 to 7.5
Distance scatter max from 4.2 to 6.4
Distance scatter obj min from 5 to 10
Distance scatter offset from 0.3 to 0.25
Cromwell/Comet Smoke Shell/White Phosphorus

We find the range of both abilities (80) and the lethality of the White Phosphorus to be over performing. At the same time, we are introducing a critical fix to both abilities to make them more reliable.

Range of Smoke Shell/White Phosphorus reduced from 80 to 45
Comet White Phosphorus will no longer finish off infantry models, bringing its performance in-line with other White-phosphorus abilities

Emplacements

To bring UKF emplacements in line with the emplacements of other armies, we are preventing players from building UKF emplacements in the base sector:

No longer possible to construct emplacements in the base sector

Land Mattress

To improve counter play vs the Land Mattress we are allowing anti-tank weaponry (e.g., AT guns and tanks) to target the gun directly in order to destroy the unit without having first to de-crew it. This brings the durability of the Land Mattress down to static howitzer levels. We also feel the rate of fire of the Land Mattress does not give its opponents a sufficient amount of time to react to a barrage.

Vehicles/etc will focus fire on the gun, as opposed to the crew (if the player right-clicks on the gun)
The Land mattress gets destroyed when its hitpoints become depleted. This is regardless of whether the crew is still alive
Health reduced from 350 hitpoints to 300 hitpoints
Cooldown between rockets increased from 0.25 secs to 0.375 secs (also affects white phosphorus barrage)

Artillery Cover Ability

We find that Artillery Cover is an ability that is too efficient for its cost. Therefore, we are significantly reducing the effects vs different types of targets, allowing for greater opportunity of counterplay.

General Changes:

The radius of the ability now properly drawn on the battlescape
Delay until the barrage begins increased from 4 seconds to 8 seconds
Anti-Vehicle Shells:

Decreased the AoE radius of anti-vehicle shells from 8 to 6.
Reduced speed of anti-vehicle shells, so that it is now possible to dodge them
Reduced the duration of loader-injured critical from 10 seconds to 5 seconds

Anti-Infantry Barrages:

Suppression vs infantry reduced, so that incoming anti-infantry barrages no longer pin infantry squads, but rather only suppress them.
Air Resupply Operation Ability

To improve usability of this ability, we have made the following changes:

The ability can only target captured territory/fuel/munitions points (not victory points).
The airplanes are dispatched immediately, and the supply drop happens at the capture point.

QUALITY OF LIFE

Wreck values normalized

We are adjusting the amount of resources players can attain from vehicles using doctrinal salvage abilities. Previously, certain wrecks would award large amount of munitions/manpower, which wouldn’t correspond to their class. We are now changing salvage so that only fuel and munitions are awarded from salvaging a wreck. Moreover we are normalizing wreck values so that the amount of resources gained now depend on the worth of the vehicle.

(Values are given in Munitions/Fuel)

Ultra Lights 10/5
Lights 15/10
Mediums 20/25
Advanced Mediums 35/30
Heavies 50/40
Super Heavies 60/45
The changes to salvage affect both Tank Hunter Doctrine (Soviets) and Tactical Support Regiment (UKF) salvage abilities.

Handbrake 2.0

We are further modifying the handbrake ability to make it provide additional utility to the players. The new ability is similar to a hold fire ability. However, instead of preventing firing, it simply prevents the vehicle from automatically rotating to face enemy units. The vehicle will still rotate to attack enemy troops, but only if an explicit attack command is issued. If a movement command is issued, the vehicle will respond to the movement command. At the same time, if the ability is on, the vehicle will stop automatically rotating once the movement is complete. With handbrake v2.0 a maneuver can be executed without having to repeatedly toggle the ability.

In addition to the original affected vehicles (i.e., all transport vehicles), we are also adding handbrake v2.0 to the following vehicles. This will allow players to control whether they want the vehicles to rotate to face the enemy or not:

Kubelwagen
Flammenhetzer
Crocodile
Sturmtiger

Nevertheless, the following vehicles retain the original (i.e., immobilize) version of the handbrake. This is because for the following vehicles, unwanted movement incurs a potentially lengthy setup time:

M15 (USF)
Infrared Halftrack (OKW)
Flak Halftrack (OKW)

Hold Fire for Tanks/AT Guns

We find that the lack of a proper hold fire ability makes players resort to half-measures to control when their AT-guns or tanks can fire.

The affected units are:

All anti-tank guns
All tanks that already have a prioritize-vehicles ability
FlakHT
Panzer4 Command tank
Ostwind
Centaur
KV-2
M15 (use it to reserve flak rounds for valuable targets; the MGs will continue to track/fire on targets)
M5
Note: To make UI experience consistent, the doctrinal Soviet AT ambush ability has been moved one row below its previous position.

BUG FIXES

-Fixed multiple bugs with Ardennes Assault that prevented players from completing missions and caused abilities/upgrades to not work as intended
-Fixed an issue where hold fire on Luchs/Brummbar would make either vehicle permanently unresponsive if abandoned while the ability was active
-Fixed an issue where the OKW FlakHT would sometimes become permanently stuck
-Fixed a bug where Comet/Cromwell Smoke Shell/White Phosphorus would, sometimes, fail to trigger properly
-Fixed an issue where the firing arc of coaxial and hull MGs for British faction tanks was smaller than that of other armoured vehicles
-Sapper flamethrower now, correctly, takes up 1 slot
-Sapper flamethrower is now mutually-exclusive with the minesweeper upgrade
-Fixed an issue where Sapper flamethrower was dealing additional damage vs squads in cover (i.e., above the level of other flamethrowers)
-Fixed a bug with Sappers where Veterancy affected the number of upgrades available to them.

The following members leave staff owing to inactivity

• Arne (Senior Referee)
  
• Jackiebrown (Moderator)
  
  
• Gdot slips from Senior Referee to Referee